"Shop Now!"

[Phaedrella]

<p>Could the new cash shop button at the main character select screen—now we know why you've banished character select from the launcher!—be made a little less chintzy, or even hidden with gold membership? I've seen slot machines in Atlantic City that were more subtle.</p>

[Mystfit]

<p>Your're kidding, right? That's the most subdued shop now button I've ever seen.....</p><p><img src="http://www.jklm.net/atn/shopnow.jpg" /></p><p>Here's a few screenshots of lotro...</p><p>characters who won't interact until you pay lotro..</p><p><img src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRE2ySLsSOEmAUwCV-Bt4xNK_2cPrt72WJ_Fq1kxWos8Z3KSnSpNw" width="260" height="194" /></p><p>character screen</p><p><img src="http://meglynn.com/interface/chargen_hum1.jpg" width="1136" height="845" /></p>

[Finora]

<p>Heck, I didn't even know it was new. There's been a button of some sort in that spot for me for a long while, right by the options.</p>

[Phaedrella]

<p>It's ugly and sticks out like a sore thumb. For somebody who's been playing this game since 2005, now has a gold membership, and wants to feel the udders being squeezed as rarely as possible, it's an annoyance.</p>

[simianthief]

<p>It'll fade into the background before you know it.</p>

[Phaedrella]

<p>Right, like that welcome window that nobody can disable now.</p>

[Tatsou]

<p>I played wizards 101 with my daughter for a time and i think theres is even more pronounced cause it literally is a f2p game.</p><p>I played eq2x for a brief bit couple months ago, saw it and ignored it. just like the welcome, it helps me see who's on real quick when i first log in. lot of times Im getting a drink or something while game loads up so im never camped really in a area that might be dangerous to my toon unless I crashed.</p>

[Phaedrella]

<p>super</p>

[Phaedrella]

"Shop Now!" doesn't even disappear when you watch the credits screen, oh my gosh. So tacky.

[Gungo]

<p>Your complaining to complain. No one really agrees with you. Its been there for some time and is barely noticable. Also its needed for purchasing stuff you might want BEFORE you create a character. The only thing that is tacky is your trolling.</p>

[Phaedrella]

<p>It's been there since yesterday, and your command of the English language is intermediate at best.</p>

[Phaedrella]

(By the way, a troll is somebody who's generally the first to go ad hominem on an internet forum and even goes out of his or her way to do so. In this case, that would be you. I began this thread from a position of legitimate concern and never lowered myself to personal attacks until you baselessly took a shot at me. Participate constructively or keep your mouth shut.)

[DuneWarrior]

<p>Well can we at least cut it down to 1 beg button ? Either "Shop now" or "Purchase character slot" since ... one is just as good as the other?</p>

[Gungo]

<p><cite>Phaedrella wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>(By the way, a troll is somebody who's generally the first to go ad hominem on an internet forum and even goes out of his or her way to do so. In this case, that would be you. I began this thread from a position of legitimate concern and never lowered myself to personal attacks until you baselessly took a shot at me. Participate constructively or keep your mouth shut.)</blockquote><p>A troll is also a person who spams the same feedback over and over. In this case that would be YOU. The buy now marketplace button has been there for some time. I have used it before to access the marketplace window at the character select. You are WRONG.</p><p>Furthermore while my reply had ad hominem within it had legitimate reply stating you need access to the marketplace for features to CREATE a character on character select even with a gold account. Your baseless complaints while ignoring my reply only shows your continued mindless replys without having a constructive conversation. So You might want to keep your mouth shut for a bit until you can get a handle on your PMS.</p>

[Rothgar]

<p>There has to be access to the marketplace from the login screen so you can do things like purchase character slots or other items that need to be purchased BEFORE you can log into the game. </p>

[Tigbugtiger]

<p>The "shop now" button has always been there, I've played eq2x for a while now (2 boxin) and it was there on both character select screens, nowt new. As for the welcome screen it appears, I click the X and it goes away not a big deal.</p><p>I very much doubt they will move it, because thats not conducive with the business model ATM.</p><p>Tig</p>

[DuneWarrior]

<p><cite>Rothgar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>There has to be access to the marketplace from the login screen so you can do things like purchase character slots or other items that need to be purchased BEFORE you can log into the game. </p></blockquote><p>Then remove the 'purchase character slot' button? no need for both Right?</p>

[DuneWarrior]

<p><cite>Tigbugtiger@Splitpaw wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>The "shop now" button has <strong>always been there, I've played eq2x</strong> for a while now (2 boxin) and it was there on both character select screens, nowt new. As for the welcome screen it appears, I click the X and it goes away not a big deal.</p><p>I very much doubt they will move it, because thats not conducive with the business model ATM.</p><p>Tig</p></blockquote><p>Hightlighted the issue, it was not there on live.. so the logic of "Always" is limited to what you where exposed to</p>

[Phaedrella]

<p><cite>Gungo@Crushbone wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Phaedrella wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>(By the way, a troll is somebody who's generally the first to go ad hominem on an internet forum and even goes out of his or her way to do so. In this case, that would be you. I began this thread from a position of legitimate concern and never lowered myself to personal attacks until you baselessly took a shot at me. Participate constructively or keep your mouth shut.)</blockquote><p>A troll is also a person who spams the same feedback over and over. In this case that would be YOU. The buy now marketplace button has been there for some time. I have used it before to access the marketplace window at the character select. You are WRONG.</p><p>Furthermore while my reply had ad hominem within it had legitimate reply stating you need access to the marketplace for features to CREATE a character on character select even with a gold account. Your baseless complaints while ignoring my reply only shows your continued mindless replys without having a constructive conversation. So You might want to keep your mouth shut for a bit until you can get a handle on your PMS.</p></blockquote><p>mindlezz replyz~ LUVVIT when stupid people accuse others of stupidity, complete with misspellings. Oh, and I'm a DUDE. But way to be a misogynist, brah!</p><p>Anyway, Rothgar, fair enough. But see the above point about redundancy. And you haven't, unfortunately, addressed my concern that people who pay for a gold membership already don't necessarily want to be hit over the head with "buy this and this!" reminders. Nor did you address my aesthetic criticisms, which are not unfounded. The button is ugly and looks out of place on an otherwise attractive screen. It even stays put during credits!</p>

[SirDinadan]

<p>It's tiny, unobtrusive, and necessary. </p><p>I suppose it could be purple.  Everything is better if it's purple. </p>

[Phaedrella]

Look, we're going to have different readings and expectations based on where we're coming from, right? You play on the Bazaar server. Another respondent is coming from EQ2X and so obviously has no objections whatsoever to the cashshopification of the game. I've been playing since 2005 on a standard PVE server, though. I have always had a subscription, I plan to keep one as a gold subscriber (so long as I stick around), and I find these reminders unpleasant, still more when they're clunky and poorly integrated into the existing interface. I am not reconciled to this transition, but it'd be easier if my toons weren't standing on top of a cheesy Shop Now! box at the character select screen.

[Phaedrella]

(To name but one example.)

[Cyliena]

<p><cite>Phaedrella wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>Look, we're going to have different readings and expectations based on where we're coming from, right? You play on the Bazaar server. Another respondent is coming from EQ2X and so obviously has no objections whatsoever to the cashshopification of the game. I've been playing since 2005 on a standard PVE server, though. I have always had a subscription, I plan to keep one as a gold subscriber (so long as I stick around), and I find these reminders unpleasant, still more when they're clunky and poorly integrated into the existing interface. I am not reconciled to this transition, but it'd be easier if my toons weren't standing on top of a cheesy Shop Now! box at the character select screen.</blockquote><p>I've also played since 2005 on a standard PvE server. Apparently this means something?</p><p>The button doesn't bother me and it needs to be there for account services/unlocks. I barely even notice it there as I go to char select just long enough to pick a char and login. It's not like I admire myself all day on the character select window; if I wanted to do that I'd do it in game. <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Anyways, the button is about as much of an annoyance to me as the welcome screen (which I by habit now close before it even fully loads). That is to say it's easy to selectively ignore, unless you're someone who wants to make a big deal out of it.</p>

[Phaedrella]

Coming from a standard PvE server (or a non-Exchange/non-EQ2X server, let's say) can mean something, yes. I never asserted an absolute correlation, nor did I ask for the button to be removed. I said that I find it hastily designed and awkwardly placed. Given the ballyhoo surrounding the F2P transition—one that I'm not fanatically opposed to, by the way, but rather grudgingly coming to accept as necessary—I'm surprised that you or anybody else might be surprised to recognize the significance of the finer points, from the point of view of somebody like me, when it comes to how this transition is implemented. If "Shop Now!" in a chiclet box is even "finer" or at all subtle. Anyway, this discussion is depressing to me, and I regret ever having begun it. For those of you who will sooner take what you're given as consumers than question or qualify, good for you; for those who don't, I sympathize. Night.

[Dethdlr]

<p>Without discussing the merits of F2P, marketplace, etc. I see what I believe Phaedrella is saying:</p><p><img src="http://www.eq2411.com/w/images/a/a9/Characterselect.jpg" width="800" height="507" /></p><p>The buttons pointed to with red arrows are of one style.  The ones pointed to with yellow arrows are of a different style.  The "Shop Now!" button has the style like the red arrows but is presented in the bottom row among other items with the style of the yellow arrows. </p><p>One of the following should be done IMHO:</p><ul><li> "Shop Now!" button should be moved to one of the areas containing the same style buttons</li><li>The "Shop Now!" button's style should be changed to match the buttons surrounding it</li><li>The buttons surrounding the "Shop Now!" should be changed to match its style</li><li>Try some deep breathing exercises and accept how trivial this design issue really is</li></ul><p>For me, the second and forth option make the most sense.  But that's just me.  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[DuneWarrior]

<p><cite>Dethdlr@Butcherblock wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Without discussing the merits of F2P, marketplace, etc. I see what I believe Phaedrella is saying:</p><p><img src="http://www.eq2411.com/w/images/a/a9/Characterselect.jpg" width="800" height="507" /></p><p>The buttons pointed to with red arrows are of one style.  The ones pointed to with yellow arrows are of a different style.  The "Shop Now!" button has the style like the red arrows but is presented in the bottom row among other items with the style of the yellow arrows. </p><p>One of the following should be done IMHO:</p><ul><li> "Shop Now!" button should be moved to one of the areas containing the same style buttons</li><li>The "Shop Now!" button's style should be changed to match the buttons surrounding it</li><li>The buttons surrounding the "Shop Now!" should be changed to match its style</li><li>Try some deep breathing exercises and accept how trivial this design issue really is</li></ul><p>For me, the second and forth option make the most sense.  But that's just me.  <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p>I agree on the mismatch of buttons totally.</p><p>Also The shop now button and the Purchase additional character slots both give the same functionality ie. they open up the marketplace.. In my mind one of the two would be enough, in fact i would suggest changing the caption on "Purchase Additional Character Slots" to "Shop Now!!" (notice the extra exclamation point for emphasis) that way we remove the inconsistency, and we only have 1 button for the same purpose.</p>

[Kitila]

this clashes like bad hair and bad shoes on prom night.... Just saying.

[Mystfit]

<p><cite>Phaedrella wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>Look, we're going to have different readings and expectations based on where we're coming from, right? You play on the Bazaar server. </blockquote><p>wow.....</p>

[TheSpin]

<p><span style="font-size: small;">I think it's a good idea to offer a button specifically mentioning character slots, because character slots were not always available for purchase and people may not know there is an option to purchase them on the marketplace.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">I think there's a semi-valid remark about the shop-now button being along the bottom where the other icons use a different format, but I think it should either be left as it is, or have the shop now button moved on the right side of the screen somewhere.  Ultimately I think any change you convince anyone to make only make it more visible, not less visible.  There's a big open spot in the upper right side of the screen, for example.</span></p>

[SirDinadan]

<p><cite>Phaedrella wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>Look, we're going to have different readings and expectations based on where we're coming from, right? You play on the Bazaar server.</blockquote><p>Dismissing an opinion based on the background of the commenter?  That almost sounds like one of those ad-hominem attacks I've read so much about recently.  If you're curious, I play/have played on Bazaar, Butcherblock, Oasis, Crushbone, Antonia Bayle, and High Keep. </p><p>However, none of that background has any impact whatsoever on the location and function of the Shop Now button, which remains, and I quote, 'tiny, unobtrusive, and necessary'.</p>

[Grumpy_Warrior_01]

<p>I think when you press the Shop Now! button, the currently selected character should open up their trench coat with rows of fake Rolex watches hanging out.</p>

[TheGeneral]

<p>It just baffles me the little things people complain about.</p>

[Lera]

<p><cite>Grayven@The Bazaar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Dismissing an opinion based on the background of the commenter?  That almost sounds like one of those ad-hominem attacks I've read so much about recently.</p></blockquote><p>No, but it's odd to complain about SOE wanting a "shop now" button to get more money when you play on a server where everything is for sale for real money.</p>

[Rijacki]

<p><cite>Phaedrella wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>Coming from a standard PvE server (or a non-Exchange/non-EQ2X server, let's say) can mean something, yes. </blockquote><p>I've been playing since day 1 of launch, Nov 2004, on AB primarily with a brief sojurn on Guk and a little bit on Venekor. My primary accounts has been Station Access (now called All Access) for years and will remain thus for the foreseeable future. My second account was started a few months after my first and was SA for a long time before being switched to a regular subscription. I also played in EQ1, SWG, and Vanguard, with the first 2 primarily before EQ2 launched. Are my credentials 'blue' enough for you?</p><p>The button is identical to other -buttons- on the same screen. It's not identical to the link-like 'buttons' (lettering without a visible button outline) on the bottom. Since shortly after SC was implemented, long before EQ2X opened, there was a "Shop Now" in that spot but more like the link-like buttons.  The button does stand out more, yes, but that is to be expected with more things in the Cash Shop which the purchase of can affect your character from the select screen onward.</p><p>The Shop Now button most definately is needed even for Gold subscribers. The cash shop now has the expansions available for SC, even from the first day of launch (for AoD). A Gold subscriber might also want to purchase Freeblood (or any future race) that is only available on the Marketplace. A subscriber might also only want to do a quick buy of some item without going all the way into the game.</p><p>With the Show Now, is the "Purchase Character Slots" button needed? Yes. Some new players may not realise they can buy character slots. Having that right below the Create Chracter is helpful for them in exactly the same way there is a tutorial in game for each new character. Even having it visible there when character slots aren't full is handy, to provide the 'comfort' of it being okay to create characters and fill your slots, you can always get more.</p><p>I am neither for nor against F2P. I don't like "pay to win" items in a cash shop (and most have been removed, at least for now) and intensely dislike seeing glaring cash shop reminders all over (like in LotRO or Free Realms). But, I don't see this button as intrusive and glaring as either of those, even as a long time subscriber.</p><p>Before you ask, yes, I do buy fluff items from the cash shop, but that has no bearing on me seeing it as intrusive or not either.</p>

[Nynaeve]

<p>exactly. If you make the button smaller, people are gonna complain - why isn't there a shop button outside of the game? Cause they cant find it <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Felshades]

<p>So you want the free players to not know right from the start where to look to buy stuff.</p><p>Gotcha.</p><p>Every free to play game has even more obtrusive buttons, this one is fine. I dont even really notice it. In fact, I didn't even know it was there till you pointed it out <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>I always just get to character select and hit Enter. Loads my main into game. I want to switch after, I /camp character. /shrug</p>

[SirDinadan]

<p><cite>Lera@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Grayven@The Bazaar wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Dismissing an opinion based on the background of the commenter?  That almost sounds like one of those ad-hominem attacks I've read so much about recently.</p></blockquote><p>No, but it's odd to complain about SOE wanting a "shop now" button to get more money when you play on a server where everything is for sale for real money.</p></blockquote><p>Almost as odd as responding as you did to someone who wasn't complaining about it in the first place.</p>